Page 38 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

He strode off to speak with a few of the unseelie leaders, looking more like a king than he ever had in the time I had known him.

Oren left the group just as Aev joined it, and the dragon general stepped into place beside me as we headed toward the four mated ex-human women and their men. They were in their own circle, on the opposite side of the area from the other leaders.

“You’ll be flying with me,” Oren said.

“I’ll be flying myself,” I countered, my eyes moving over the crowd of fae in front of us so I didn’t have to look him in the eyes.

“You’ll need to focus on the klynna. You can’t do that and be ready to get yourself out of the way if you fail. Every second matters.”

“I don’t fly with anyone,” I told him, finally meeting his gaze. The man looked frustrated, and I didn’t blame him. But that didn’t change my opinions in the slightest.

“The king is the one who asked me. You’ll have to bring it up with him.” Oren tucked his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

My defenses rose. “Aev doesn’t get to make that decision for me.”

“You started a mate bond with him. Bonds create attachment that didn’t exist previously. If you don’t believe that attachment gives him enough authority to care about your safety, you need to break the bond before the emotions grow any stronger.” Oren’s voice had an undercurrent of anger in it, which caught me off guard.

And made my defenses swell.

I argued, “We created a bond to get us both out of pain. Nothing else.”

“If that was true, you wouldn’t smell of each other’s pleasure.”

“Back off,” I hissed, as we approached the other ex-human women. My heart was beating irrationally fast, but I knew that was because of the conversation.

“If you refuse to care about Aev like a mate, break the bond,” Oren said.

He walked in the other direction as I joined my friends and their mates. It was still raining on us, and my hair was plastered to my back and chest, with a few strands stuck to my arms as well.

“You look sick,” Summer said, her forehead creasing as she grabbed my arm and tugged me toward her. “What happened?”

I glanced at Remmo, who was beside her, but deep in conversation with Lian. January, North, and Priel were talking, and Mare and Ervo looked like they were having an intense discussion.

“Oren said Aev asked him to fly me to the klynna,” I admitted.

The creases in her forehead deepened. “So?”

“You know I don’t fly with anyone. I don’t trust them.” I wrapped my arms around my abdomen.

“I know. But I want you to survive this insane plan, and you have a much better chance of doing that if you don’t fly yourself.”

“He told me I should break my bond with Aev,” I said, frustration welling in my chest. “He acted like I’m the bad guy.”

Summer’s eyebrows shot upward. “What the hell?”

“I don’t know.” I wrapped my arms tighter around my middle. I’d felt like that a few times, but I’d chalked it up to my past. “Do you think I am?”

“Of course not.” She scowled. “But youdoneed to fly with someone.”

“What are we talking about?” January checked, as she and North stepped up to me and Summer.

“Dakota wants to fly herself to the klynna.” Summer tossed a hand toward the sky.

“Well, that’s a shitty idea,” January said with a grimace. Her hand lowered to her abdomen, and I glanced at the curve of it. She was definitely visibly pregnant now, but her bump wasn’t huge. Since no one was certain how long an ex-human and fae pregnancy would last, we weren’t sure how much longer she had, but she didn’t look like she was about to pop anytime soon. The fae life-bringers assumed she was about halfway through the pregnancy.

“I don’t want to fly with someone I don’t trust,” I corrected Summer, shooting her a dark look.

She shrugged. “Who do you trust enough to fly with, then?”

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